You are here

Olson to run for county commissioner

By Amelia DicksonThe Daily World

Another candidate has thrown his hat into the ring for the upcoming Grays Harbor County Commission race. Keith Olson announced Friday that he’ll run as a Republican for Herb Welch’s soon-to-be-vacant seat.

Welch, a Republican, won’t seek re-election, citing health issues. Olson will be the third candidate seeking election to the position. Cosmopolis Mayor Vickie Raines announced in November that she’ll run as a non-partisan candidate, and Wishkah resident Al Smith announced in February that he’ll run as a Democrat.

Olson, 63, is a lifelong Quinault resident and works in the timber industry. He’s also a former football and women’s basketball coach of his alma mater, Quinault High School, and former women’s basketball coach for Grays Harbor College.

Olson is a well-known opponent of the Wild Olympics campaign — that’s part of his motivation for seeking office.

“It’s the Wild Olympics and the spotted owl, they’re both job killers,” Olson said. “You look back to the spotted owl, and since then all of our jobs have gone.”

He said he doesn’t trust the current federal, state and county governments to help the situation — and he’s especially wary of the National Park Service’s management of the Olympic National Park.

“It seems like the private citizens up here are being attacked from all angles by the government,” Olson said.

Olson and his neighbors have been embroiled in a battle with the National Park Service for several years regarding changes to the Quinault River. He said river’s change in course was caused by the parks service’s manipulation of Finley Creek, a tributary of the Quinault River.

Changes in the Quinault River have resulted in the loss of a house and several acres of property. National Park Service officials said it’s nearly impossible to tell whether changes to the river are the result of Finley Creek manipulation.

If elected, Olson said he hopes to help stimulate job growth in Grays Harbor County. He said he only recently decided to run for the position, and he’s still working out the details.

Rules for posting comments

Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Sound Publishing or this newspaper. This is a public forum.

Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content but the newspaper is under no obligation to do so. Comment posters are solely responsible under the Communications Decency Act for comments posted on this Web site. Sound Publishing is not liable for messages from third parties.

IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.

Do not post:

Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.

Obscene, explicit, or racist language.

Copyrighted materials of any sort without the express permission of the copyright holder.

Personal attacks, insults or threats.

The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.

Comments unrelated to the story.

If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon below the comment.